From dating apps to movie theaters, disabled people in Japan often find it difficult to receive accommodations. Unfortunately, that’s also true for Japan’s disabled students.
Many disabled students can succeed and thrive when schools make reasonable accommodations to meet their needs. However, despite a recently amended law requiring such accommodations, some schools remain unwilling to meet the needs of their disabled students. I recently spoke with a student who shared her story about how a simple request to use an iPad for her high school entrance exam was met with disdain and denial.
A long battle to use an iPad
A student, A (identity hidden by request), who attended a public junior high school in Chiba Prefecture, has a mobility impairment (身体不自由; shintai fujiyū) and holds a Level 1 disability certificate — the most severe classification.
A has upper limb paralysis and cannot raise either arm. Her left hand is completely immobile. Her right hand can move below the wrist, but she can’t move the arm itself.
This allows for writing in the same spot without having to move the arm. The writing speed is so slow that copying notes onto paper during class or writing answers on paper during tests isn’t feasible.
With an iPad, she can use the Apple Pencil by moving only her right wrist, adjusting the screen as needed. In other words, she’s capable of learning with reasonable accommodations.
A flat denial
A has no intellectual disabilities. She excelled academically and even ranked first in her grade during junior high.
From the start of junior high, however, administrators denied her requests for accommodations. The principal and local board of education were reluctant to support her.
When she began applying to high schools, she again requested reasonable accommodations for the high school entrance exam. The principal remained uncooperative. Around July 2023, during her second year of junior high, about 10 supporters—including a medical coordinator, special needs school coordinator, nurse, and homeroom teacher—stepped in to help. They spent nearly a year advocating for accommodations in the entrance exam scheduled for February 2025.
However, her parents said they made little progress.
During junior high, A requested to use an iPad for the Chiba Prefecture high school entrance exam. The principal flatly denied the request:
“There’s no way you can take a high school exam using an iPad!”
“You can’t possibly take a test in a separate room.”
He even said, “That’s like playing a pretend exam.”
Even a high school to which A applied hesitated to accept her. It stated, “It will be difficult to provide the same accommodations as in junior high.” This response left A feeling as though the school was turning her away.
A denial in defiance of the law?
To receive accommodations for the high school entrance exam, students must submit an official application for “special accommodations.” This application goes to the Curriculum and Guidance Division of the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education.
However, A would not receive the result until early 2025. The exam was scheduled for February. Thus, she had to continue studying without knowing if she could even take it.
A requested the following four accommodations:
- Permission to use an iPad during the exam
- Extended exam time — 1.5 times the standard duration
- Temporary breaks for phlegm suction during the test
- Time to check if the scribe’s answers matched the student’s answers (10 to 15 minutes)
There were other accommodations the student had hoped would be approved, but she adapted by changing her approach or giving up on them.
The high school stated that it could not make the decision regarding these accommodations and wished to defer the matter to the prefectural authorities. However, Chiba Prefecture said it had no prior cases of students using an iPad in entrance exams. Officials expressed concern about “fairness.”
While many responded positively to the idea, education officials still worried about unintended uses. They feared students might misuse the iPad, since it involved handling digital information.
According to A’s parents, this concern seemed to stem from a desire to keep any potential precedent or systemic change as limited and contained as possible. Given this context, in December 2023, A and her family began direct negotiations with Chiba Prefecture to dispel the board’s concerns and continued pushing for accommodations up until the last possible moment.
The law mandates “reasonable accommodation.” The school and prefectural government, however, didn’t seem to be on board.
Reflecting on the long process, A said, “It’s hard not to feel anxious and to distrust Chiba Prefecture when they won’t act on something that’s legally required.”
Silent discrimination from authorities and the launch of a petition for iPad use in the entrance exam
After receiving insufficient support from both the junior high school and her desired high school, she and her mother began direct negotiations with Chiba Prefecture in December 2023.
In a formal meeting held in June 2024, A spoke in her own words to ten prefectural officials, pleading for the use of an iPad as a reasonable accommodation during the high school entrance exam. However, none of the officials responded. They remained silent throughout the meeting. According to her mother, some even appeared to smirk.
She said to the officials, “I believe you all became public servants by passing the civil service exam. But if you didn’t even know whether you’d be able to take that exam, could you focus on studying? Right now, I am in that exact situation. That’s why, with a positive mindset and in consideration of fairness, I ask that you allow me to take the exam using an iPad.”
Despite this heartfelt plea, the ten remained silent.
Feeling belittled and powerless, A and her mother launched a petition campaign to demand reasonable accommodations for the entrance exam. “I think the problem is in the process—how we request reasonable accommodations,” A said.
Chiba Prefecture officials, wary of violating the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities if they outright refused, avoided direct statements. However, they failed to provide any concrete responses or actions. This approach seems to amount to “silent discrimination” – ignoring A’s requests and letting her fall through the cracks of the system.
The canary in the coal mine
Despite the discrimination, she studied hard for the entrance exam, unsure if she would even be allowed to take it.
She had scored 67 on a mock exam taken a year before the entrance exam. That’s above her target school’s average of 60, meaning she stood a 90% chance of the school accepting her.
Despite everything, she remained determined to continue her studies. When her mother asked, “How is it that your motivation hasn’t dropped?” she replied:
“If, after being admitted, the school still doesn’t provide the accommodations, I want to take them to court and ask the public, ‘Does this not qualify as reasonable accommodation?’ I believe that is my mission. I’m the canary in the coal mine.
Mom, the entrance exam is a one-time opportunity. That’s why I want to walk as far as I can. Even if my claims aren’t accepted, it’s okay because other [students with disabilities] who follow me will be able to walk part of the way. I hope they will continue on the path where it was left off. Anger and justice can become an enormous source of power. That’s how I feel right now.”
“I will absolutely pass the exam. That’s why I’m studying.”
High school discourages enrollment just before exam
In December 2024, just two months before the high school entrance exam, the junior high school A was attending received an email from the prospective high school regarding support after enrollment.
“When we discussed post-enrollment accommodations in September 2024, it was determined that, due to the student’s disability, such as the use of a wheelchair, it would be physically difficult for her to access regular classrooms. All standard classrooms are located on the second floor or higher. The school will make efforts to assign a first-floor classroom to the student and connect it to the regular class where other classmates are at via an online system.”
Then, the email went on to say, “Given the overall circumstances of the school, we cannot guarantee that a first-floor classroom can be secured at this time, and it may ultimately not be feasible. Please confirm whether the student still intends to take the entrance exam under these conditions.”
A had a strong desire to make friends in high school. However, she would likely attend classes alone on a different floor, connected to her classmates only online. Such an arrangement would further deprive her of opportunities to build relationships at school. She expressed hope that, at the very least, she could attend classes in the same room as her peers whenever possible and spend break times with them.
Yet with only two months left before the exam, the school and authorities gave no clear answer on accommodations. Indirect discriminatory treatment continued.
Reasonable accommodations were not granted until just before the exam
As of January 2025, just one month before the exam, not all requested accommodations had been approved. A and her family submitted another appeal.
With the January 27th application deadline approaching, they faced shifting responses from the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education. Both the junior high school and the prospective high school struggled to keep up. The entrance exam took place on February 18th and 19th. In the days leading up to the exam, A and her family remained uncertain, as full accommodations still hadn’t been granted.
Ultimately, the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education did not approve all of the requested accommodations. Among the following four accommodations, they approved 1 to 3 and didn’t approve the 4th accommodation.
- Permission to use an iPad during the exam
- Extended exam time — 1.5 times the standard duration
- Temporary breaks for phlegm suction during the test
- Time to check if the scribe’s answers matched the student’s answers (10 to 15 minutes)
The board rejected the fourth accommodation because they believed giving the student time to check whether the scribe’s answers matched her own might allow her to change her responses, which they said could compromise fairness.
For the remaining unapproved accommodation, A and her support aide adjusted their approach. They rehearsed alternative procedures to prepare for the revised conditions.
Preparing for potential technical issues during the exam came at a cost. A’s family had to buy backup equipment, including a second iPad. When they asked the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education for a spare iPad, officials refused. They said it was a “personal item,” like a stationery supply, and A needed to supply it herself.
The delay in finalizing exam-day accommodations left no time to address other key issues, according to the parents.
In the end, both the junior high and the high school approved the requested accommodations. However, A and her family still had to scramble. Since the exam was for a Chiba Prefectural high school, they had to keep adjusting to last-minute and often inadequate responses from the prefectural board.
“I’m grateful, but I don’t respect them”
I asked A how she felt about her long and arduous journey toward securing reasonable accommodations for the exam.
This high school entrance exam using an iPad wasn’t made possible by the efforts of Chiba Prefecture or my junior high school principal. It was primarily thanks to my mother and the Chiba Association for Advancing High School Access for Students with Disabilities [a local citizens’ group that supports students and individuals with disabilities]. It made me realize that unless we raise our voices this loudly, nothing changes.
I felt a deep sense of disappointment toward the prefecture. They would listen to our concerns but never offer solutions, just take the issues back with them and say nothing clearly.
The official route for requesting accommodations is through the junior high school to the prefectural board. However, in my case, the principal was absolutely unwilling to advocate for my accommodations. That would’ve led nowhere.
Students should be able to submit the request directly themselves. In my case, the school approved the accommodations only after I personally went to the prefectural board, and then the board contacted my junior high school.
I hope that the system can be improved. As for how I feel about the prefecture, I guess the most accurate way to put it is that I’m grateful, but I don’t respect them.
Beyond laws: The need for real change
Despite A’s persistence, she faced discrimination, resistance, delays, and indifference in her fight for legally mandated accommodations. These challenges came from the very institutions meant to uphold her rights.
At every turn, she encountered not only systemic inertia but also silent discrimination. Her experience exposes the deep gaps in Japan’s education system when it comes to supporting students with disabilities.
Her story is a stark reminder that legal mandates alone are insufficient. Without accountability and proactive enforcement, the promise of “reasonable accommodation” remains hollow for students with disabilities in Japan.
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